Split swab piston with flange type seals



March 9, 19 54 YOUNG 2,671,413

SPLIT SWAB PISTON WITH FLANGE TYPE SEALS Filed D80. 18, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l Henry 5. Young INVENTQR;

A TTORNEY March 9, 1954 H. B. YOUNG 2,671,413

SPLIT SWAB PISTON WITH FLANGE TYPE SEALS Filed Dec. 18, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Henry 5. you

INVEN BY 3m BCQMJIE.

A 7'7'ORNEY Patented Mar. 9, 1 954 Henry B. Young, Houston, Tern, assignor to Mi's sion Manufacturing 00., Houston; Tex, a. can

poration of Texas;

Application December 18, 1950,, Serial N 0. 201,376

1: '1' The invention relates generally to a swab which is a form of piston construction which canbe lowered into a pipe in a well bore containing Ii'q;- aid and upon the-raising thereof to trap some of the liquid above the swab or piston and to thereupon elevate the liquid above the swab. Therepeated lowering and raising of the swab in this manner elevates liquid order to remove it from the well bore;

Swabs of the general type have been known heretofore and one such swab is disclosed in the application for patent of Jack' C. Webber; serial No. 51,173, filed September 25, 1948; now U, S. Patent No. 2,633,808, granted April 7, 1953; for Well Swab."

.The present invention further contemplates what is generally recognized as a split type of well swab such as shown generally in- United States Letters Patent 2,201,451 issued May 21, 19 40, to B. E. Parrish for a Well Swab.

The Parrish. swab has been: exploited commercially to a. considerable extent. and has beenin eneral use since the issuance of the patent.

The present invention contemplates; a: recognition of the advantage of the; split. type swab,.snch as Parrish, but. further contemplates taking advantage of. the spaced: flange. assembly of Webbe l and inconclusion, contemplates the c'ombina tion of. thasplittype arrangementoi Parrishlemr bodying the sealing, member construction: on Webber.

- It is believed that'rthe above indicated combination required. the exercise: of. the mventiveiaculties and a modification. of the. parts: in. order to adapt. the Parrish. and Webber structures; into a single unitary device.

It. isone of the objects: ofv the present inven tionto provide a split type swab'having'; radially extending sealing: members in combination; with vertical edge partitions between the split sections. when they are. in load lifting; positiomv by the provision ofvertical sealing edges; on the re spective halves so. that the: pressure of the load being lifted tends tocreate a seal betweenzthes' two split. portions to prevent leakage: and loss-oi the load: of liquid: being. lifted.

Another object of. the invention. is; to provide a splittypeswab. having: edget reinforcing pore tions between-the: spacedrlaterally extending; seal.- in; fianges.

A. still further object; of the invention is to provide a split type swab whereinzthe swab-may move downwardly at. an accelerated rate; by: vis tue: at. the". provision. of the; split" swab. whereas it will. in turnrtrap'. atloa'dr or liquid; above the: swab I Claim. (Cl. 103*225) parts when they moveinto the complementary position shown in Fig. 2. V 7

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered" in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: I

Fig. i is a side elevation of the swabnegotiat ing a downward movement in a well ipe com taming liquid which will cause the loose portion or section of the swabto move upwardly and allow a. flow of liquid from the lower left hand side of the figure to the upper right hand sideas the swab moves downwardly.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig; 1'- except that'- the swab is negotiating an upward movementwhereupon the two halves of the-swab will move into the complementary position shown so as to trap a load of liquid above'the swab for elevationi'n the well.

Fig; 3 is a broken sectional view illustratingan enlarged view of one of the-half sections and i1- l'ustrating" the detail construction thereof.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view'tak'en on the: line 4-4 of Fig. 3' and: looking: downwardly.

Fig. dis a section taken on the line; 5-5 of-Fig 4e. and showingv the arrangementof the body and resilient portions in sections with the reinforcing edgerlb in side elevation.- V

Fig-6185 a perspective view of the slotted anrangement in the: mandrel to. limitthe: sliding movement of one of the swab halves.

In Fig. 1- the well tubingor: wellzcondbctori 2" is a length of pipein the: wellv which contains. the well. liquid 3 therein which it is desiredto elevate from: the well.

The swab is shown inside elevationand-cori stitutes' a mandrel 5 which is a solidncylindrical member having the threaded connection 6-: on the upperv end thereoffor connection to a, string of sucker rodsior: a; wire line socket" as may be dosired so that the-swab and: the mandrel thereof willbe raised and lowered inthewelh Themandrel bodyp'roper at-8 is e. cylindrical memberwhichis-provided at itsupper end with an. enlarged collar to and with" a bottom lug t1 threaded at? 2= on the: lower end of thamandrel Arranged for: sliding movement on the mandrel booyportion a: between the collars to and It are the swab sections or halves l5 and 20. Thesesec tion'si when in operating positionto carry a load or oil will be complementarywith each other side byside asseen in Fig". 2;.so as to form a complete closure of the wellpipe 2 in order'to retaina bodyof the liquid 3 thereabove as best seen in The load of oil is carried on the laterally extending flanges or sealing elements 2| which are outwardly. and upwardly inclined or beveled as shown in the drawings. When a load of oil is disposed thereon and the swab is pulled upwardly, the load of oil wil1 tend to flex or bend these flanges downwardly so that they will move outwardly to a sufficient extent to maintain a seal with the inside wall of the pipe 2 and prevent the load of liquid from leaking or seeping past the swab as it moves upwardly. As to the detail construction of these swab sections IE or 20, attention is directed to Figs. 3, 4, and 5. In Fig. 3 the side elevation indicates that the central semi-circular body member 22 is fitted about the mandrel body portion 8, whereas Fig. 4 shows that this body 22 has an inwardly directed flange or rib 24 at each edge thereof. The mandrel 8 is provided with opposite elongated slots 25 in which the flanges 24 are arranged to slide. The body 22 is slipped over the end of the mandrel before the collars ID or H are affixed. As seen in Fig. 2, both sections ride upon the lower plug II when the swab moves upwardly.

The section has free sliding movement from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2, and the position of the section |5 depends on whether the swab is being lowered in Fig. 1 or whether the swab is being raised as in Fig. 2. The ribs 24 of the section l5 are the same as the ribs 24 of the section'20 as seen in Fig. 4, and flanges 24 of the two sections fit side by side into the opposite grooves 25 in the mandrel so as to form an operative combination.

The groove 25 as seen in Fig. 4 has a width to receive both of the flanges but this width of the groove is limited by the shoulder 28 as seen in Fig. 2, which is disposed a short distance above the upper end of the section when the parts are in the position of Fig. 2. The lower collar ll serves as a support for both sections of the swab when the swab is moved upwardly to lift the liquid.

When, however, the swab is moved downwardly, if the parts remained in the position of Fig. 2, the lowering operation would be slow and tedious because it would be practically impossible for the liquid to flex the rubber flanges upwardly suflicient to permit any substantial amount of the liquid to pass as the swab moves downwardly.

The left hand section |5 as seen in Fig. 1 is thus arranged to slide upwardly through an extension 30 of the slot so that the flanges 24 of the section I5 will move away from the flanges of the section 20 from the Fig. 2 position. The shoulder 28 will prevent the section 20 from moving upwardly but the extended slot will permit the section l5 to move upwardly and assume the position shown in Fig. l.

In the Fig. 1 position, it will be noted that there is a large open area between the top of the section 20 and the bottom of the section l5, which area allows the liquid to move from the lower left hand position to the upper right hand position as the swab moves downwardly. In this manner, the swab may be lowered at a very substantial rate so as to facilitate the swabbing operation.

One of the important features of the invention is the particular arrangement of the rubber covering for the body 22 of the swab section. This covering is properly vulcanized upon the metal body 22 and has a substantial thickness 33 for the support of the flanges 2|, which extend laterally and inclined upwardly therefrom.

If the flanges 2| of the two respective sections were at the same elevation as seen in Fig. 2, it is entirely possible that the unsupported edges might move out of alignment with each other and either permit the liquid to leak past the flanges or the flanges might become distorted. In order, therefore, to support the flanges and to create a seal between the respective swab sections which will automatically prevent leakage, a reinforcing web or retainer rib 35 has been arranged on the ends or edges of the flange sections 2| as best seen in Figs. 3 and 5. This web 35 is formed as integral with the flanges and extends outwardly between adjacent flanges beyond the periphery of the thickness or covering 33 as shown in the right hand side of Fig. 5, whereas the left hand side of Fig. 5 in section shows the arrangement of the thickness of the covering and the flanges.

Fig. 2 shows the swab sections in alignment with the webs 35 of the two sections arranged side by side so as to be forced into sealing position by any load of liquid which is being lifted by the swab. This is true because the liquid will move into the space between adjacent flanges 2| and will bear against the covering 33 around the periphery and against the webs 35 to force them circumferentially against each other as seen in Fig. 2. This web is recessed or undercut at 36 as seen in Fig. 5, so as to not interfere with the flexing of the flanges at the edges or ends thereof to any substantial extent.

It is believed that the operation, the construction and the arrangement of the swab may be readily understood from the foregoing description.

Broadly, the invention contemplates a split type swab provided with spaced laterally and. upwardly extending flanges to move out of alignment when-the swab is lowered and to move into complementary aligned position to provide a load carrying swab when the device is moved upwardly in the well.

What is claimed is:

A well swab for elevating liquids in a well 'conductor comprising, a mandrel, a pair of half section complementary swab units mounted on said mandrel to form an annular circular swab when said swab units are aligned in the same transverse plane, key means slidably connecting one of said half section swab units to said mandrel to permit same to move longitudinally on said mandrel from an aligned position in the same transverse plane with the other swab unit to a misaligned position above said other swab unit whereby said swab is readily lowered into the well liquid when said swab units are misaligned and is adapted to lift a load of liquid when said swab units are in the aligned position during the raising of the swab, each of said swab units comprising a semi-circular body, a plurality of semi-circular sealing elements mounted on said body in longitudinally spaced relationship, each sealing element being constructed of elastic material and being upwardly and outwardly inclined when the element is in a normal undistorted position, each sealing element on each of said swab units being alignable in the same transverse plane with a corresponding sealing element on the other of said swab units when said swab units are in said aligned position to form a plurality of annular sealing rings, said sealing rings being capable of flexing in a downward direction under a predetermined load of liquid to effect a sealing engagement of the peripheral edge of each element with the wall of the well conductor whereby said elements may be utilized to lift a predetermined load of liquid, increase of the liquid load beyond the predetermined load causing further flexing of said element 5 in a downward direction to move the peripheral edge thereof out of sealing engagement with the wall of the conductor to permit escape of liquid downwardly past the element to reduce the liquid load thereabove to the predetermined load, retainer ribs mounted between said sealing elements and at the ends of each of such sealing elements to support the ends of the sealing elements which are in abutment when the swab units are in said aligned position whereby distortion of the ends of the sealing elements is avoided to prevent any leakage of liquid between the abutting ends of the elements, said ribs being each radially inset within the peripheral edge of the sealing elements to permit the downward flexing of said elements while providing the support for the ends thereof.

-- HENRY B. YOUNG.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,449,674 Heggem Mar. 27, 1923 2,153,843 Parrish Apr. 11, 1939 2,176,231 Swortwood Oct. 17, 1939 2,201,451 Parrish May 21, 1940 2,290,351 Parmeson July 21, 1942 2,326,902 Thomason Aug. 17, 1943 2,360,577 Parrish Oct. 17, 1944 2,417,349 Colbaugh Mar. 11, 1947 OTHER REFERENCES 011 Weekly (page 2) March 9, 1936. 

